Terry's musical roots run deep.  He grew up listening to his father play guitar; his dad was an accomplished guitarist in the style of Chet Atkins and played in bluegrass, country, and gospel groups on live radio shows long before Terry was born. A picture of one such band inspired Terry's song “Happy Valley Folks.” Terry himself has been singing since he was old enough to talk. He remembers learning to harmonize at a very young age, singing in the children's church choir and singing with his sister to his dad's guitar playing.

His performing history began with singing in church, for weddings, and occasional acoustic and harmonizing collaborations with musician friends inspired by groups like CSN&Y and the Eagles.

Terry's style during this period was in the singer-songwriter's tradition in an acoustic,"unplugged" style, but he would soon enjoy being a lead singer in several rock bands, including a few years with the Jacksonville band Coastal Raiders. With the rock bands he learned to belt it out and let loose. In the last few years he has returned to focus more on his acoustic roots and songwriting, but he is able to use the experience of singing rock to add some punch to his acoustic performances.

The last few years Terry has been performing regularly at “Acoustic Night” and “Songwriters' Night” in his hometown of Atlantic Beach , which he says rejuvenated his songwriting activity and inspired him to start recording his songs. His recording “Perfect Wave” is a collection of his songs that span from college years to the current. The songs on the album are so varied that it is hard to label as a group. As you listen you will find the feel of the songs shift among rock, folk, Americana , bluegrass, and country.

He has never stopped growing as a performing songwriter and does not want his style to become stale. Not only does he rush to listen to the latest releases by veteran performing songwriter icons who have inspired him for so many years such as Mitchell, Dylan, Clapton, Simon, and Wonder; he says that he is excited and still being inspired by singer/songwriters who have been arriving on the scene in recent years. Some of his favorite new artists include (take a deep breath): John Mayer, Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall, Ray Lamontagne, Pete Yorn, James Blunt, Ryan Adams, Marc Broussard, Jack Johnson, John Legend, Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, Chris Martin (Coldplay), John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting), Corrine Bailey Rae, Bernard Fanning, and Daniel Powter. OK, he had a hard time choosing just a couple. Obviously, he enjoys listening to the music of others as much as he does writing and performing.

Terry has enjoyed a “real job” with CSX for quite a few years, but music and tennis are great timeouts from the corporate life and he enjoys spending time with his wife and best friend Dori.